Techniques for gesture recognition are often utilized in the field of user input/output and user interfacing. For example, a gesture may relate to a user using a part of the body, e.g., a hand or fingers of the hand, for non-verbal communication. Other examples of gestures are head movements, body movements, sign language, hand and arm movement, etc. Techniques may be used to recognize the gesture and use the gesture to control a user interface. In vehicles, gesture recognition may allow for interfacing with a vehicle head unit which controls different functionalities of the vehicle.
Typically, for gesture recognition, a plurality of three-dimensional (3d) cameras or stereoscopic cameras indicating a distance of a certain object with respect to the at least one camera, are employed. From the various perspectives, e.g., by means of a stereoscopic calculation, and/or the 3d information, reliable gesture recognition is possible. Such techniques typically rely on determining a 3d position of a gesture-related object, e.g. a user's hand.
However, such vehicle gesture recognition systems may face certain restrictions. For example, the different parts may be comparably costly. Moreover, the control and implementation of such systems may be comparably complex and time-consuming. Training of the system may be needed. Failures may be comparably likely to occur due to the high level of complexity.
In particular in the vehicle environment, multiple ways of user interfacing are available, including buttons, touch panels, rotary buttons, etc. Therefore, the additional high costs of a vehicle gesture recognition system may be undesired.